This invention relates to a lawn and garden product and particularly, to an improved edging and landscape retainer or bed divider useful for defining borders between adjacent areas of a lawn or garden; or to act as a landscape bed retainer to contain dirt, stones, bark, chips, or the like, in designated areas and to prevent spillover of such materials into areas where it is not intended.
Homeowners and landscapers often desire to use edging to separate and define gardens from turf grass areas; to divide portions of gardens, or to develop multiple layers of soil for building a topiary garden arrangement. Typically, landscape edging material is formed in elongated strips which are placed along the border to be defined and implanted into the ground. Once installed, the edging acts as a delineation which inhibits vegetation growth between the adjacent ground areas. The use of edging further simplifies trimming and enhances the appearance of the landscape and garden areas.
A landscape edging product should advantageously possess the desirable features set forth below. Each of these features are fulfilled by a landscape edging according to this invention.
A landscape edging should be sufficiently flexible and resilient so that it may be easily bent in either direction and shaped or formed by hand, and be readily adapted to contours, curvatures and irregular shapes of the garden border, and the undulations and configuration of the landscape.
It is desirable for the edging to be sufficiently rigid in the vertical plane to remain in an upright position when impacted by external forces such as lawn mowers, trimmers, or the like.
The landscape should also be easily installed without tools and accessories, eliminating the arduous and time consuming trenching, implanting, fitting, and compacting associated with existing edging materials available in the market today.
It is desirous for a landscape edging to be readily cut to size with a knife or scissors to fit any designated area.
It is desirable for an edging material to have the ability to add holes for ventilation or air circulation when used in the wider widths for fencing or as wind breaks.
It is advantageous for landscape edging to be easiy shipped and stored and have the ability to be rolled into a tight coil, yet will not remain so rigid in coil form so as to hinder installation when placed along straight paths or contours which curve in the opposite direction of the coil.
It is desirable to provide a landscape edging that can be easily installed, without digging and trenching, over hard packed ground, over rough and rocky terrain, or over submerged tree roots or the like, eliminating the need to cut or remove such obstacle, and eliminating the damage and destruction of valuable plant material when roots are severed or the ground is disrupted.
It is desirable to provide edging material that may be installed year around and is not adversely affected by cold or inclement weather.
It is desirable for edging material to be securely fastened in the ground to limit lateral shifting.
It is desirable for edging material to be secured in the ground to limit vertical movement, either pulling up out of the ground or sinking below grade thereby becoming ineffective.
It is further desirable for edging to be easily extractable, to facilitate trimming or edging adjustment or relocation.
It is further advantageous for a landscape edging that becomes dislodged to be quickly and easily reinserted and put back into place.
It is further desirable for edging to be readily attachable to another section to provide a continuous interlocking barrier, in an easily applied and effective manner, that is pleasing in appearance.
It is advantageous for a landscape edging to be durable, rust proof, non-corrosive and weather resistant.
It is advantageous for a landscape edging to be reusable if so desired.
It is desirable to provide an edging material that is able to withstand normal impact and contact with lawn mowers, trimmers, and the like, without splitting and deterioration.
It is desirable for a landscape edging to enhance the aesthetic appearance of the lawn or garden area, and act as a decorative highlight for the particular landscaping application.
It is also desirable to provide an edging material available in multiple color ranges to coincide with various landscaping situations.
It is desirable to have an edging material that is available in various widths for a wide range of uses.
It is advantageous for a landscape edging to be available in multiple lengths for bulk requirements or special applications.
It is also desirous to have an edging material having a corrugated inner layer that is available in a single face material as well as a double face material to add rigidity or additional strength where flexibility is not as important, or for special applications such as the retention of flowable concrete, as in construction forms or as expansion joints to allow for the normal expansion and contraction of concrete caused from climatic changes or many other special uses.
It is also desirous to have a heavier gage material available to gain additional vertical and lateral strength and extra rigidity when needed for a particular application.
It is further desirable to be able to stack the edging material one section on top of the other by driving a connecting stake or pin through both top and bottom portions if the application warrants, such as a need to increase the height of the edging or to increase the edging retention capacity.
The above desirable features of a landscape edging are provided in accordance with this invention. The edging material most advantageously employed in practicing this invention is a material having one or two facing layers with a corrugated web layer attached thereto. Preferably, the edging material is made from polyethylene, polypropylene, PVC, polycarbonate or other polymeric or co-polymer material.
In accordance with this invention, elongated stakes preferably made from a painted or galvanized wire stock with one end forming a "U" shaped return of approximately 1", spaced approximately 3/4" from the stake body, may be inserted through one or more of the hollow elongated cavities found within the edging material, formed between the planar face or faces and the center web section or corrugations, and running the full length of the edging material. The bottom portion of the stake is pushed into the ground, thereby securing the edging in the desired position along the ground. The end of the "U" return is then preferably inserted back through one of the other parallel channels found within the edging, or hooked over the side of the edging. When the "U" return is inserted back through one of the other channels, the entire stake is within the edging and does not detract from the appearance of the edging material.
The flexible nature of the edging material enables it to be easily bent in either direction and conform to any border shape, yet the corrugations provide vertical strength and integrity and resist bending in the vertical plane, thereby ensuring that the border face maintains a rigid vertical orientation.
The landscape edging according to this invention is further adaptable for numerous other landscaping uses such as soil retainers, rose or shrub collars, tree guards, wind breaks, screens, fences, composters, container gardens, cold frames, and many more.
Additional benefits and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art to which this invention relates from the subsequent description of the preferred embodiments and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.